


I like shiny things, but I’d marry you with paper rings

by addendum



Series: I’ve been loving you for quite some time [1]
Category: Bob's Burgers (Cartoon)
Genre: F/M, First Dates, Pregnancy, incredibly soft
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-03
Updated: 2020-10-03
Packaged: 2021-03-07 20:46:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,054
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26783878
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/addendum/pseuds/addendum
Summary: Five significant car rides in Bob and Linda’s relationship
Relationships: Bob Belcher/Linda Belcher
Series: I’ve been loving you for quite some time [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2057652
Comments: 13
Kudos: 47





	I like shiny things, but I’d marry you with paper rings

“Wow, that was...actually not terrible.” 

Bob immediately flinched at his poor choice of words. 

“Sorry. That came out wrong. It’s just that I haven’t had a date go this well in...ever. I’ve never had a date go this well, ever.” 

In the passenger seat, his date laughed. She laughed easily, like she couldn’t waste time not finding the joy in everything. Everything about her made Bob feel relaxed. He could tell that she wasn’t judging him for his old shoes, or his old shirt, or his pants that didn’t quite fit right. 

“I know what you mean!” She said. “First dates, am I right? I was scared you might kill me and cut off my hands, but then you said we should go to Romano’s for dinner. I couldn’t pass up the chance to eat those breadsticks. Mm! Delicious. So salty.” 

Bob laughed, and it wasn’t the polite, stifled laugh he usually had on dates. He didn’t even think about laughing; he just laughed. 

“That’s insane.” He said. “You realize that’s insane, right? You were willing to get murdered just for Romano’s breadsticks? They weren’t even that good.” 

“You’re out of your friggin mind. Those breadsticks and that wine? Oh, I shouldn’t have thought about it. Oh, my mouth is watering. Look, it’s really watering!” 

Bob laughed again. 

“How am I supposed to see that your mouth is watering?” 

“Oh, I don’t know.” She stuck her tongue out. “There, can you tell?” 

“Definitely not. I still can’t believe you asked for wine in a to-go cup.” 

“Romano’s wine, Bob! How many times in her life does a girl get Romano’s wine? Can you believe they said no?” 

Bob liked the look on her face, like nothing could ever embarrass her. He wondered if she knew what self consciousness felt like. 

“Yes. Bringing that in the car would be...very illegal.” 

“Maybe.” She sing songed. 

“Definitely. Definitely illegal.”

“Only a little illegal! Like when you steal a lipstick from the drugstore. Ha! I’m kidding. Sort of.” 

Bob took his eyes off the wheel to raise an eyebrow in her direction. 

“At least they let you have that Sprite, though. That was nice, considering we...didn’t pay for a Sprite.” 

“That was nice!” She agreed, waving her styrofoam cup in the air. “See, that’s why I like Romano’s. Nice little mom and pop shop.”

There was a leaping sort of feeling in Bob’s chest when he heard her say the words  _mom and pop shop_.  She put a lively tone to the phrase, like she didn’t think starting one would be the most insane, idiotic thing a person could ever do. 

“You have a nice face.” Bob blurted out, without even stopping to think about it. 

“Sorry. Wait. I mean—“

“ You have a nice face!” She parroted, brushing past his apology. “So handsome! That mustache is so nice, I just wanna...tear it off and keep it as a pet!” 

Bob grinned, his embarrassment washing away. 

“You want—what? You want to tear my mustache off, and—“ 

“And keep it as a pet! Yeah. Put a little collar on it, maybe give it a bath. Aww, little mustache bath!” 

Bob couldn’t remember the last time he had laughed like this. He couldn’t remember the last time he had felt so loose. It was weird, considering how much of a nervous wreck he usually was on first dates. 

“Mustache bath?” He asked incredulously, still smiling. “You can’t just say that like it’s a thing.” 

She smiled back at him. 

“Mustache bath, yeah! 

Bob realized with a twinge of disappointment that she was fishing through her purse as she said this, which probably meant that—

“This is my street.” She said, pulling out her house key. “Look, there’s my building! Ooh, look. There’s that weird stain I was telling you about.” 

Bob pulled into the parking lot of the apartment complex she was enthusiastically gesturing to. Knowing he wasn’t going in with her made Bob feel a little dismayed. It was maybe the first time he hadn’t been flooded with relief once a first date ended. 

“I had a great time tonight.” She said with a soft smile as he parked, her tone a little more subdued than it had been throughout the evening. She unbuckled her seatbelt. 

When she smiled, an overwhelming feeling of safety came over Bob—a feeling that told him he could stop worrying about what his future held, about what would happen if he couldn’t afford to start the restaurant he dreamed about. 

“I had a great time, too.” He said. He knew that things were going to be okay. 

Without hesitation, his date leaned forward into his space. Bob felt his heart flutter. 

“Can I kiss you now?” She asked. He nodded, his cheeks turning pink. 

She closed the small bit of distance left between them, catching his mouth in hers. She tasted vaguely of wine, but Bob could barely register that. He was distracted by the giddiness building in his stomach. She pulled away too soon. 

“I should...probably go.” She said, sparing a glance at her front door. “You better call me, mister.” 

“Of course!” Bob said. Then, fearing that he had come off too eager: “I mean, yeah. I’ll call you. Yeah.” 

She grinned, giving him one last kiss on the cheek before climbing out of his car. 

“Goodnight, Bob!” She said, the soda in her to-go cup sloshing around as she waved. Bob already missed the feeling of having her near him. 

“Goodnight, Linda.”

••••

“Bob! Hi!” Linda said excitedly, nearly falling over in her rush to climb into the car.

She was wearing a green dress with a black cardigan on top of it, and her hair looked...different. Bob didn’t know what she’d done with it exactly, but she’d definitely done something new.

When Linda had called and asked if he could give her a ride home from the party she had been attending, a mass of hopeful nerves had formed in Bob’s stomach. She’d called him instead of any of the other men who were probably her life. She trusted him, and she called him.

“Hi Linda.” Bob said. “How was the party?”

“It was fun! Ginger’s sister is a real hoot.”

Bob nodded, surprised when an image of Ginger popped into his mind. He’d never been able to keep up with the names of his old girlfriends’ relatives, much less the names of their friends and acquaintances.

He’d only known Linda for a little less than three months, and he already felt more committed to her than he’d ever felt to a woman before.

“And how about uh....Maggie?” He asked, deciding to test his name recollection skills further. “Was she there?”

“Oh, Maggie? Yeah, she was there—flirting it up with Ginger’s ex boyfriend! Who does she think she is? Some nerve on that girl.”

Bob didn’t mind that Linda was too drunk to notice that he’d remembered Maggie’s name. He was just happy to be in the car with her, listening to her rant and ramble about the party.

Ever since their first date, Bob had been soaking up all the time he could spend with her. They’d gone out to dinner numerous times since their first trip to Romano’s, and they’d seen five movies together. Bob liked being around her so much that he barely even cared that he was spending more money than he could really afford.

“Maggie sounds...not very nice.” He said.

“You don’t know the half of it!” Linda exclaimed, like she’d been waiting for the chance to tell someone about this.

Bob listened patiently, turning the radio off so he could focus on what she was saying. It was getting a little hard to keep up with all the names she was mentioning, but he hummed in agreement whenever she expressed disgust, disbelief, or elation. She was so animated when she talked about anything, even the mundane.

Bob liked hearing her talk. A few weeks earlier, the two of them had stayed up talking all night in his room. He felt he could be open with her in a way he hadn’t been with anyone before. He told her about his dad’s restaurant and how he feared he would have to work alongside him for the rest of his life. He even told her stories about his mom.

Bob thought things were going great between he and Linda, but his nagging self doubt kept him from being as happy as he should have been. He was afraid that she wasn’t as invested in him as he was in her, even though she’d given him no indication that this was the case.

“So...yeah.” Linda finished, slumping down in her seat. “I don’t know if Maggie will be invited to the next party.”

Bob nodded again.

“She doesn’t sound fun to be around.” He said indulgently. “Were the snacks good, at least?”

Linda’s eyes lit up, as Bob hoped they would.

“They were incredible! Best snack selection I’ve ever—oh hey, that reminds me!”

Bob spared her a confused glance as she reached into her purse and produced a crumpled up napkin.

“Oh, I have a plastic bag around here somewhere.” He said. “For trash, I mean. If you need to—“

“No, no!” Linda clarified. “It’s not trash, Bobby. It’s a gift! For you. I smuggled it out.”

Before Bob could ask what she was talking about, she pulled back the napkin to reveal that it had been concealing something inside: a single boneless wing. He wasn’t sure how to respond to that.

“That’s...a chicken wing.” He said simply.

“Yeah!” She said, grinning. “Sorry, I couldn’t find anything to bring the sauce in. I wanted to sneak you some of that, too.”

A piece of chicken wrapped in a napkin shoved into someone’s purse was probably an odd thing to feel touched about, but Bob couldn’t help it. It was ridiculously endearing, that she would think to bring him one of the snacks she liked so that he could try it.

“Wow.” He said, taking the wing from her hand. “Thank you. It looks...good.”

Truthfully, it didn’t look very good, and the thought of eating anything that had been ruminating in someone’s purse turned his stomach a little. Looking at Linda’s kind smile, though, he couldn’t bring himself to tell her that. He wanted her to keep smiling at him like that for as long as possible. He smiled back.

“I guess I should...eat this now?”

He could only hope she’d grabbed his chicken at the end of the party, so it hadn’t been stuffed in there for hours. He popped it into his mouth as quickly as possible, only cringing a little. It didn’t taste bad, but the flavor was certainly underwhelming.

“Really good.” He lied, still chewing. “Thanks for bringing me one.”

Linda beamed, clearly satisfied with his response.

“Don’t mention it! Thanks for the ride, Bob. You didn’t have to do this. I guess I’m not as drunk as thought I was, really. I could’ve waited it out.”

She looked a little sheepish, like she had been caught in a lie, but Bob wasn’t bothered by the fact that she could’ve driven herself home. He swallowed his last bite of chicken.

When Linda called and told him she was too tipsy to drive, Bob hadn’t even considered saying no to her. He had been a little disheartened about spending his Saturday alone, actually, so he welcomed the excuse to see her.

“It’s not a big deal.” He said honestly. “I was happy to do it.”

Linda smiled.

“I mean, I could’ve even walked home, maybe. I didn’t have to drag you out here. I’m sorry.”

That suggestion made Bob snap his head toward her, incredulous.

“What? No. That’s—no. That would be dangerous. If you ever need a ride, just...call me, okay? Especially at night.”

“Aw. Really? That’s so nice, Bob. Thank you.”

“Well, I mean, I love you. I don’t want you getting hurt.”

Linda’s eyes went wide instantly, but it took a minute for Bob to recognize what he’d just said. Once it sunk in, his grip on the steering wheel tightened.

“Sorry. I-I don’t want to make things uncomfortable. I’m sorry if that’s too fast. It’s just that I—“

“I love you, too!” Linda interrupted before he could fluster himself any more.

Bob could feel his heart pounding faster with each second that passed, and he was already becoming embarrassingly sweaty.

“You do?” He asked. “Really?”

“Yeah!” Linda said. “Ginger told me it was too soon, but I told her I didn’t think so. And now...here we are! There’s something special about you, Bob. I don’t care how soon it is! I love you.”

Bob wanted to cheer. He wanted to dance and sing and celebrate the miracle that was this incredible woman telling him she loved him. Mostly, he wanted wanted to pull over to the side of the road and kiss her like crazy.

“Wow.” He said. “I can’t believe it! I love you, Linda.”

He didn’t even feel embarrassed about the smile that was splitting his face open. He couldn’t help the joy that was bursting inside of him. There was a dizzy, euphoric cloud filling his head.

“Woo!” Linda said. “I wish I had a drink! I wanna toast!”

She scrambled to look through her purse, but the only thing she could find was the crumpled up napkin she’d transported the chicken wing in. Apparently, that was good enough for her.

“To love!” She announced, holding it in the air. “We’ll do this with wine later.”

Bob nodded, taking one hand from the wheel to ball it into a celebratory fist.

“To love!” He echoed, looking over at the woman next to him with an adoring smile.

  
••••

“You know, you can probably take that thing off now.” Bob said, smiling.

Linda was still fiddling with her veil as Bob drove away from City Hall.

“Are you kidding?” She asked. “I’m a bride! I’m not taking this off until I get in bed. Probably even after that! I’ll sleep with it on.”

Bob chuckled.

“It looks good on you. Customers might be a little confused, though.”

“Nah. They’ll know it’s my wedding day! I have that glow. You know, that glow that brides have!”

“You’re thinking of pregnant women, Lin. But...yeah. I guess you do look kind of...glowy.”

Linda had rarely stopped beaming since they’d woken up that morning. Bob assumed that she would’ve liked to have a nice wedding, with an expensive dress and nice hours d’oeuvres and a big crowd, but she never complained about it. She was more cheerful than ever.

“You think so? Aw, Bobby! Probably ‘cause I have such a handsome husband. Husband! Can you believe it? You’re stuck with me!”

Bob didn’t understand how she could think that way. In his mind, he had scored way out of his league when Linda agreed to marry him. She was everything he wasn’t: beautiful, charming, confident, and optimistic.

He knew his proposal to her hadn’t been anywhere near what she deserved. He was gross and gaining weight every day, and he couldn’t even afford to get her a nice engagement ring.

“I’m not stuck, Lin.” He argued. “I’m the lucky one. I’m...sorry that our wedding day couldn’t be more special. I know how you like big parties.”

Linda shrugged it off, throwing a hand in the air as though to wave off his concerns.

“If I wanted a big party, I would’ve married some rich guy. Instead, I married a hardworking man with a dream! I love it.”

Bob was still a little floored that he actually had his own restaurant. Even more amazing still was the fact that Linda was so happy to share it with him.

“A really, really poor man. Who’s making you work on your wedding day. Wow, I’m awful.”

Linda gave him a stern look. They’d had similar exchanges many times since their engagement, and she was more than used to battling Bob’s insecurities.

“You aren’t making me do anything, Bobby.” She reminded him. “If I didn’t want to work today, Id’ve told you to go shove your burgers.”

Bob nodded.

“Right. I know. I just...feel bad.”

“There’s no need to feel bad, Bob!” Linda assured him. “I love what we’re building together. I’m glad you’re letting me be a part of your big restaurant dream.”

Bob took a hand off the steering wheel so he could hold one of hers. He felt another stab of regret upon seeing the empty space on her ring finger.

“Letting you be a part of it?” He asked. “I could never do this without you, Lin. You know that.”

She squeezed his hand, smiling.

“Aw. Hey, do you wanna go out today after closing time? We could see a movie, maybe get some ice cream. You know, treat ourselves! It is our wedding day, after all.”

“Good idea, Lin.” He said. “You look beautiful, by the way. I don’t know if I...said that.”

“Thank you, Bobby! You don’t look half bad yourself. You clean up real nice.”

She squeezed his hand again, and Bob felt a sliver of his guilt evaporate. Evidently, he had married exactly the right person for him.

“Thanks, Lin.” He said. “So do you.”

••••

“I’m so happy I could die!” Linda cried as she got situated in the car, placing a hand on her stomach.

They’d just been to their first ultrasound, and Linda was ecstatic. Privately, Bob was also pretty happy. He just wasn’t as loud about it as his wife.

At their appointment, he was surprised to find that the sonogram pictures made him tear up. He hadn’t expected the well of emotion that had appeared in his throat once he saw his baby for the first time, but it had appeared all the same.

“I think I already love this baby more than I love you.” Bob said seriously, putting his key in the ignition. “No offense. It’s just—“

“Are you kidding?” Linda asked. “I’d let you fall off a cliff, just so I could catch this baby! And the doctor said she’s only the size of a kumquat. Aw, my teeny little kumquat.”

Bob’s eyebrows crinkled at her use of pronouns. In his head, he’d simply been referring to their child as “the baby” or “it”.

“You think the baby’s a girl?” He asked. “It’s too early to tell.”

Linda was clearly unfazed by his skepticism.

“Of course she’s a girl!” She said confidently. “My little baby girl.”

Bob felt like he was missing something. Did he miss some moment during their appointment when the doctor had made this prediction? He had no idea what Linda was basing her theory of off.

“How can you sound so sure?” He asked. “There could just as easily be a boy growing in your stomach right now.”

“A mother knows, Bob.” Linda said with a shrug, like that explained everything.

In the past few weeks, Linda had slipped very easily into the maternal role. She was already referring to herself as  mommy and baby proofing everything in the apartment. On most days, she would proudly announce to at least one customer at the restaurant that they were expecting.

_ “There’s a baby growing in here! A friggin baby! Guess that’s what I get for sleeping with my boss. Just kidding, he’s my husband!” _

Bob knew how badly she’d always wanted a family, and he was happy to watch her dream come to fruition. He just wished he could be as fearless as she seemingly was. He knew he wanted a family, but he was also more wary than Linda was about everything that could go wrong.

Since Linda had first told him that her period was late, he’d been having terrible visions of all the ways he could potentially fail as a father. His own father was distant and overly critical, and that was probably at the root of Bob’s crippling lack of self confidence. He didn’t want to screw up his kids in the same way he felt he’d been screwed up. For that matter, he didn’t want to screw up his kids at all.

“Are you gonna be upset if we have a girl? Linda asked him abruptly. She already looked a little hurt.

Bob shook his head immediately. The gender of their baby was the least of his concerns. If Linda was hoping for a girl, then so was he.

“No.” He said. “A girl might be better, actually. Cause she’d probably be more like you then, right?” 

He would feel awful if he passed any of his bad qualities onto to their baby. He already felt kind of awful that Linda had chosen him to marry and have children with. Sometimes he had the urge to warn her to save herself before he had dragged her down with him into inevitable failure.

“There’s absolutely nothing wrong with being like you, Bob.” Linda said, glaring at him.

“Besides, we could have a little boy that ends up being just like me! Or a baby girl that grows up to be just like her dad.”

Bob smiled at the mental image of a boy with Linda’s extroverted nature and love of music.

“Yeah.” He agreed. “Oh my god. What if our kid grows up to be a chef? I could teach them how to make burgers!”

Linda laughed.

“Aw! And I can’t wait for the first time she tries one of your burgers. She’s gonna love it!” 

Damn, Linda really knew how to provoke an emotional response from her husband. Ideas of how to incorporate baby food into his cooking began swirling in his head: The Peas and Thank You Burger—comes with mashed up peas.

Whatever their child’s favorite food ended up being, he would have to make a burger centered around it. He visualized a dark haired baby in a high chair, giggling as he fed her a mashed up version of one of his burgers.

“I think I’m gonna start crying again.” He confessed, already choking up.

He looked down at Linda’s stomach. Even though she wasn’t showing yet, joyful tears began to blur his vision. He wiped his eyes with the back of his hand, and Linda laughed.

“You’re such a softie, Bob.” She said.   
••••

“Lin, are you sure we have everything?” Bob whispered.

It was dark outside, past midnight, and they were just leaving a rest stop. Bob had stayed in the car with their sleeping kids while Linda had run in to use the bathroom. Predictably, she’d come back with a snack.

“Yes, Bobby.” She assured him, trying her best to open her bag of candied peanuts while still keeping her eyes on the road.

Bob took them from her without saying anything, opened the bag, and handed them back.

“You’re sure?” He asked after another moment had passed.

“Bobby, what are you so worried about?” Linda asked, shooting him a troubled glance. “Gene’s keyboard is in the trunk, Tina’s diary is in her lap, and all of our clothes and toothbrushes are in the suitcase.”

“I don’t know.” Bob said. “I just have this feeling like we’re forgetting something.”

He turned to look at the kids, as though it could be one of them that they’d left behind. Of course, all three were very much accounted for.

Tina was in the middle, and Gene’s head had slumped over onto her arm in his sleep. Louise was laying with her face against the car door, cradling Kuchi Kopi with both hands. Seeing his kids, all safe and looking very peaceful, eased Bob’s anxiety a little. He still couldn’t fully comprehend how it was possible to love anyone as much as he loved the three of them.

Bob knew the real reason behind the pit of dread in his stomach. They were going to visit Linda’s parents, an activity that always caused him a fair amount of stress. He hated leaving home and closing the restaurant. He hated being criticized by Linda’s mother.

Linda didn’t get the kind of social burnout that he did. She could make small talk for hours and not be worn out when she was done. Conversations with people she barely knew didn’t make her sweat! It was one of the many qualities of her’s that amazed Bob.

“For a girl who swore she could only sleep in a five star hotel, Louise sure did pass out the second the car started moving.” Linda quipped.

Bob smiled, looking forward to teasing his daughter about that in the morning.

“Oh, look at poor Tina.” Linda said, looking in the rearview mirror. “She’s gonna have such a stiff neck in the morning, sleeping like that. I’ll make her an ice pack when we get there.”

Linda was undoubtedly the most caring person that Bob had ever met. She was always thinking of things like that, things to make things easier for her family. Before they’d left home that afternoon, she’d packed a cooler full of snacks—all of the kid’s favorites. There had been a chorus of excited oohs and ahhs when they looked inside, and Gene had wrapped his armsexcitedly around his mom’s waist.

“Good idea, Lin.” He said. “An ice pack will help a sore neck.”

Bob was so glad that the kids loved Linda as much as he did. He couldn’t imagine raising children with any one other than her. With that thought still on his mind, he shifted to the side so that he could try and sleep.

Still, worry kept creeping into his thoughts. He wanted to relax, but he couldn’t help dwelling on what would happen when they arrived at the condo. It didn’t help that the heat in their car was out again, and the night air was uncomfortably cold.

Linda had at least had the forethought to drape a blanket over her lap; all Bob had to protect him from the cold was a thin jacket over his t-shirt. Just as he had stuffed his hands into the jacket pockets to warm them, he heard a stirring in the backseat.

“Mom?” A voice asked quietly. Half asleep Louise was the second calmest version of Louise, the first being when she was actually sleeping.

“Baby?” Linda replied instantly. “Are you okay? What do you need?”

Louise sat up a little straighter, rubbing one of her eyes. Something about the dark car and the sleepy expression on her face made her look even smaller than she usually did.

“Hi Louise.” Bob greeted her. 

“Oh. Hi, Dad. How are you not asleep right now? Sleeping is like...your favorite thing ever.”

“Trust me, I wish I was asleep. I would love to be asleep right now.”

“What are you doing up, Louise?” Linda asked, redirecting their conversation. “Do you have to use the bathroom? I can stop, honey.”

Bob could tell that she was secretly a little happy that Louise had woken up. She missed her babies when they were sleeping, and Bob had been starting to miss them too.

“No.” Louise said. “It’s not that. I’m just freezing my butt off back here. I think I’m so cold that it woke me up.”

“Ohhh.” Linda cooed sympathetically. “My poor babies! You’re cold back there? My little freezy pops.”

“Very cold.” Louise answered. “It’s only a matter of time before my toes turn blue and fall off. You guys can keep them to remember me by.”

Ignoring her daughter’s morbid remark, Linda pulled off the blanket that had been in her lap and blindly stuck her hand in the backseat to pass it to Louise.

“Here, hon. Take this.”

Bob unzipped the jacket he was wearing and was instantly hit with a wave of chilly air.

“Here you go, Louise.” He said, handing it off to her.

Louise wasted no time putting Bob’s jacket on and zipping it back up. She absolutely swam in it, and her mom probably would’ve commented on how cute she looked if she wasn’t fully aware of how annoyed she’d be by that.

“You share that blanket with your brother and sister if they need it, miss missy.” Linda chided her.

“Are you kidding?” Louise asked. “You know how Gene’s body stores heat! He never gets cold. He’s like a personal heater.”

“Louise.” Bob said sternly.

“Okay, I’ll share it.” She conceded. “I’m going back to sleep now. Night, Mom. Night, Dad.”

“Goodnight, Louise.”

“Night, baby.”

The car was silent for a few minutes as Bob and Linda gave Louise time to fall back asleep. Bob realized that some of the tension he’d been harboring all day had been released after he and Linda’s conversation with Louise.

He was confused at first, but then he realized why: Linda had immediately given her blanket to Louise when she mentioned that she was cold, and he had handed her his jacket without even giving it a second thought. The interaction, as insignificant as it was, servedas a reminder of the ways he and Linda protected their family.

No matter what, they had each other’s backs. They would do anything for each other or for their kids. Maybe he didn’t need to worry so much about their trip to Florida. At the end of the day, his support system would be in tact.

“I love you, Lin.” He said suddenly, breaking the silence that had settled over the car.

Linda looked taken aback by his sudden announcement.

“I love you too, Bobby.” She said. “What brought that up?” 

He shrugged, not thinking it was necessary to bore her with the revelation he’d just had. She’d already helped soothe his worries more than she even knew.

“I just do.” He explained.

“Aw, Bobby.” She said. “You know I love you. Oh hey, did you figure out what you think we’re forgetting?”

Bob turned to look at the kids again, and he saw that Louise had fallen back asleep. This time she was turned inward, her nose pressing into Tina’s arm. He looked at Linda, whose expression was vaguely concerned, and shook his head.

“I guess I was just being silly, Lin.” He said. “I think we have everything we need.




**Author's Note:**

> let me know if you liked this! I love this family so damn much


End file.
